It's Not What You Think
by Scarlett Phoenix
Summary: The toneddown Rrated version. Pairing: DS or is it?


Disclaimer: The usual. I don't own or profit from GI Joe. I definitely do not have permission to use their characters and such. Please don't sue! Oh, I don't own or profit from the Pepsi-Cola company either. 

Rated R for adult situations.

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Duke and Scarlett were glad to finally get back to their hotel room after a long day of sight-seeing. No sooner had Duke opened the door, than Scarlett had kicked off her sandals and made a beeline for the couch. Duke followed and sat down next to her, propping his feet on the coffee table.

"Duke, be a doll and get me a Pepsi," Scarlett asked, winking at her companion.

"Ugh... I just sat down," Duke replied, disgustedly. He was not in the mood to get up for anyone and that included the beautiful redhead sitting right beside him.

Scarlett moved closer to Duke and put an arm around his neck. Making the best puppy dog face she could, she pleaded, "Please, Hon? I'll love you forever."

"You owe me for this, Red," Duke grumbled as he got up and went to the kitchenette. "The things I do for that woman. She should be getting **me** a cold drink after I carried all her bags around all day long."

When Duke returned, he found Scarlett stretched out over the entire length of the couch. "Just where the hell am I supposed to sit?" He asked, glaring at her.

"Oh, all right," Scarlett mumbled and moved her legs just enough to make room for Duke. As soon as he sat down, she placed her feet in his lap. "Foot massage?" 

"You could scoot over a little," Duke replied, matter-of-factly, complete ignoring her last request.

"You can have the whole couch. I'm gonna go soak in the tub," Scarlett said as she made her way to the bathroom with her can of Pepsi. She drew a steamy hot bath full of lathering bubbles. Several minutes later, she heard the door creak open.

"Hey, give a lady some privacy, would ya?" Scarlett yelled and threw a bottle of shampoo at Duke, who was standing in the doorway. Roughly thirty minutes later and somewhat refreshed, Scarlett stepped out of the tub, wrapped her hair up in a towel, dried off, and put on a plush, white robe. She opened the door and announced, "You may come in now, Darlin'."

Duke said rather hatefully, "It's about damn time, Lovey. There'd better be some hot water left." 

Scarlett waited for what seemed to be an eternity for Duke to finish his shower. She hoped to have some time with him before turning in for the night. They needed to plan out and prepare for their next day's adventure. 

Scarlett was more tired than she thought and found herself dozing off on the couch. "_I've got to get some PJs on and go to bed,_" she thought as she closed her eyes one last time before drifting off to sleep.

Duke, on the other hand, put his pajamas on right after getting out of his shower. He normally slept in his boxers, but because he was in female company, he decided to wear a pair of shorts. Duke still, however, refused to wear a shirt. "_It's not like she hasn't seen me shirtless before._"

Duke's jaw dropped and his eyes widened when he saw Scarlett sleeping on the couch, still in her robe. He knew she hadn't taken any clothes in the bathroom before her bath and since she was still be wearing her robe, he knew that meant she hadn't bothered to put anything on afterwards either. "Quit it," he scolded himself. "_This is Scarlett, one of your best friends, a pal, a subordinate. Not to mention, she'll kick your ass if she knew what you were thinking._" Duke tried and tried to keep his thoughts under control, but was failing horribly. 

He cradled Scarlett in his arms and carried her to bed. Duke pondered if he should put her pajamas on or leave her in the robe. This was a true "catch 22" situation, damned if he did and damned if he didn't. They were posing as a married couple and had to appear as such, especially tonight. Both he and Scarlett had been too tired to sweep the room for any bugs that may have been placed while they were away. 

"_I'm just sleeping next to her. How hard can that be?_" Duke debated the pros and cons. "_If she wakes up and finds herself dressed, she'll know I saw her naked and will no doubt hurt me. If I leave her in the robe and she's really not wearing anything else... so help me God._"

Duke finally decided to leave Scarlett in the robe. He figured he'd had a better chance of fighting off his desire for her than he would defending himself against her. After tucking his "wife" in and making sure she was decently covered, he walked around the bed and crawled in.

Sometime, during the middle of the night, Duke subconsciously wrapped his arm around Scarlett's waist. Scarlett stirred and snuggled closer to him. They slept spooned against each other for a while before Scarlett rolled over. She nestled her head into Duke's muscular chest. "Mmmm," she murmured.

Several minutes later, Scarlett stirred again, Duke's strong arms still wrapped around her. Not fully awake by any means, she started placing small kisses on his bare chest. Duke, beginning to awake from his sleep, stroked the length of her hair with one hand and placed the other hand gently on Scarlett's cheek. He lowered himself to her level and lightly kissed her lips. To his surprise, Scarlett didn't pull away, but instead, she drew closer to him and returned the kiss. 

They ran their arms up and down each other's backs as they continued to kiss, each kiss becoming more and more passionate as time went on. Duke realized his hand went further down Scarlett's back than it should have. He braced himself for some sort of kick or punch and was again shocked that she didn't. "_What is it with her? Surely, she hasn't been dreaming of this also,_" he thought. 

Duke eventually found himself on top of Scarlett. He undid her sash and the robe fell open, exposing her. "Oh god... so perfect," Duke muttered very softly. He left a trail of warm, soft kisses as he worked his way down. 

Duke became more and more aroused as Scarlett surprisingly encouraged him. He finally forgot about the fraternization regulations, the fact that they were just friends and that she could cause him severe bodily harm if she wanted to. Duke had been so consumed with exploring his partner's body that it took him a while to realize one of his partner's hands had left his back. 

Duke moved back up and placed a long, breathtaking kiss on Scarlett's lips. When he couldn't stand it any longer, Duke lifted himself and removed Scarlett's robe so that there was absolutely nothing but air between their bodies. 

At just the right, inopportune moment, Scarlett whispered very seductively, "Joey..."

Immediately upon hearing Scarlett whisper another man's name, Duke sprung out of the bed, jumping so high he nearly hit his head on the ceiling fan's blade. He grabbed the sheets and wrapped them around himself, which left Scarlett in nothing but her birthday suit. Duke nervously attempted to help her put her robe back on. Duke, cussing worse than a sailor, thought to himself, "_She thought I was Joey. That explains why she never fought me off._"

Scarlett slowly opened her eyes when she realized the warm, muscular body was no longer on top of her. Once she could halfway see, Scarlett searched the room and saw Duke, who was wrapped in sheets and cussing. "Oh, shit," she said as she grabbed the robe from his shaky hands and covered herself up. Scarlett sat up and leaned against the backboard, scrunching up her legs in front of her. She very solemnly stated, "Oh god... Please tell me it's not so." 

"I'm afraid it is... was. I'm glad we stopped before we went too far," Duke replied, not knowing if he should stay there as he was or take his boxers and shorts and put them on.

"Too far? If you didn't notice, we** did** go too far, Duke. You had your hands all over me," Scarlett reminded.

"Hey, what about yourself?" Duke asked, sharply. "I seem to recall your hands being all over me and you enjoying it. Why the hell didn't you stop me sooner?"

"Gee, Duke. Is your memory getting that bad? For starters, Joey is the **only** person who sleeps next to me or touches me like that. You never spoke or gave me reason to think it was you and not him or else I would have stopped you right away, jerk." Scarlett put her arms around her legs, hugging them as she thought to herself, "_How could I let this happen? And with one of our commanding officers. Joey knows we're working undercover, but... oh no... that didn't come out right. He'd never understand._"

"So, are you telling him?" Duke asked, concerned not only about the possible sexual harassment charges that could arise, but also about Scarlett's fiancé. Yes, Duke admitted to himself that he fantasized about her, but would never have done anything to break them up. Joey was known to be able to cause agonizing pain in more ways than Duke wanted to imagine was humanly possible.

Scarlett pondered Duke's question carefully before answering. "As far as anyone outside this room is concerned, nothing happened tonight. Yes, we slept in the same bed, but that was it. You were a perfect gentleman and stayed on your side of the bed. I stayed on my side, which, technically, I did."

"Nothing, you say?" Duke asked, showing Scarlett his confusion. He had more to lose than she did.

Scarlett explained, "You know good and well, Hawk's ready to boot both Joey and I off the team right now as it stands. You also know how unstable Joey can be and something like this would send him over the edge. So, since both of our professional lives and my personal life are at stake, I suggest we completely forget about tonights events. Deal?"

"Deal," Duke said as he offered Scarlett his hand to seal their agreement. "I'm going to go get dressed. I would prefer if you did the same." 

Duke came back to the room, happy to find Scarlett decently dressed in her pajamas. "Mind if I crawl in bed with you, Lovey?" Duke grinned as he said that last word.

"Just stay on your side as agreed, Hon," Scarlett answered and then yawned, "Now that this little episode is all over, let's both get some sleep. We have a rough day ahead of us."

"What?! Rough day?" Duke asked rather alarmed. "What the hell do you call yesterday and tonight?" He turned over to find Scarlett already sound asleep.

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Meanwhile, in an unknown location, a masked man, watching a TV screen, chuckled, "This could prove to be very interesting."

**The End.**

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Ok, Ok... This was just for fun. I'll write a real D/S piece sometime in the near future to make up for this. :D 


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